Plethysmograph training: A refinement for collection of respiration data in mice

Inhaled chemicals can harm the airways. Different effects can result in distinct changes in respiratory patterns; the type of change indicates where and how the respiratory system is affected. Furthermore, changes in respiratory patterns may be detected at much lower substance concentrations than those that cause more serious effects, such as histopathological changes. Changes in respiratory patterns can be studied experimentally by monitoring the breathing of mice placed in plethysmographs and exposing head-out to the test substance. The method is well established; however, it is not known if training mice in being restrained in the plethysmograph could increase the quality of data collection. Here we report the results of training mice to be restrained in plethysmographs for 5 consecutive days, with respect to body weight, respiratory parameters, and time spent in the plethysmograph, before they are removed because of unstable breathing patterns. The mice tolerated the procedure better (measured by time in the plethysmograph) on the second day of training than the first day. Training did not change the breathing parameters between days. Breathing parameters stabilized within 5 min after the mice were placed in the plethysmographs on all days. There was an average of 3% weight loss between the first and last days of the training, indicating that the training procedure placed some strain on the animals. Training reduces the number of mice attempting to escape from the plethysmograph.